EarthBound: The War Against Giygas!
by Evil Lucario
Summary: Years after the War Against Giygas, many remember the tale of the Chosen Four - a story of optimism and adventure against a force of incomprehensible evil. This is the tale of Ness, Paula, Jeff, and Poo: a bizarre, young group of children on a quest to defeat Giygas and avert the dark future of destruction. Novelization of Earthbound with multiple creative liberties.
1. Prologue

**Earthbound: The War Against Giygas! - Prologue**

 **Author's Note**

Before we really get started, let it be known that you should not expect _everything_ to be 1:1 with the original story and script. While maybe 80-90% (that number is made-up, just like this fanfic) of the game is the same, there are additions and changes to quite a number of things that I feel enhance both the simple plot and characters. This does not just extend to plot or characters though; this also applies "gameplay" with a few new enemies and bosses, altered PSI movesets, and more. Essentially this is the "Metroid: Zero Mission" to the original Metroid as this novelization is to the base game - keeping the essence and general idea of the original while adding new elements, updating underdeveloped elements to flow better, and adding additional "content". What are these changes? You'll find out eventually…

Updates will probably be erratic depending on my schedule, but the good news is that each update will be substantial enough to progress through the plot at a reasonable, brisk pace.

Anyways… without further ado, enjoy!

* * *

 _The year is 1999 in Onett, the sleepy and quiet town of Eagleland. A cool, light summer breeze blew through the air as citizens still out and about in the downtown were starting to head home, ready to turn in for the night and wake up refreshed for the next day._

 _And in an instant, that peace was shattered._

 _Suddenly, piercing through the silence and tranquility was a large_ **CRASSHHH** _noise and the shaking of earth, coming from the north suburban outskirts of Onett. In an instant, police sirens wailed through the town as the Onett Police had started to get to the bottom of potential trouble. The discovery of what greeted the police, however, was quite unnatural._

 _A meteor had crashed into one of the hills, lodging itself as a large, yellow solid of mass. Surprisingly, there had been no major dust clouds whipped up from the impact, nor any other sign of physical damage. In fact, as far as casualties went, there were absolutely no casualties nor potential problems reported so far. The meteor might as well could have been equal to just one_ extremely _large fart. Still, anything was possible by that point, so the police quickly set up a blockade to prevent civilians from any potential problems and went to investigating the meteorite._

 _Little did anyone know, however… this would mark the beginning of a great adventure involving three boys and one girl across the world, now known as the Chosen Four._

 _What really happened from that meteorite and inspired what is now a popular children's tale, more than ten years after the fact? We've kept the true details and the unpleasant memories under wraps for the longest time, but after enough time has passed for the hype and excitement to simmer down… it is time. It is time for the untold details and stories to be told to fill out the rest of the narrative._

 _Join us as we relive the classic tale of The War Against Giygas, all updated with never-before-seen events._

 _\- Ness & Paula Iwata, Professor Jeffrey Andonuts, and King Poo of Dalaam_

* * *

Ness, a young thirteen-year old boy, was one of many to be struck awake from the meteor. Dashing out of bed and turning on the lights, he looked out the window to survey the surroundings. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary… except one strange glowing, yellow light coming from west of their house. Piping his interest, he changed out of his pajamas into his usual clothes, put on his trademark baseball bat, and left the room.

From a first impression, Ness didn't seem too remarkable. He was somewhat short for his age, clocking in at 4' 11" and was a bit pudgy, but he was overall well-built from playing baseball nearly every day. His black hair was always messy, covered up by his baseball cap, and his clothes consisted of a simple blue and yellow striped shirt and blue shorts.

Before heading out, he took a small detour to his younger sister's room to check up on her if she's alright. His eleven-year old sister, Tracy, was already awake, presumably from the sound of the meteor as well. Unlike Ness, she didn't change out of her pajamas yet, clearly only just woken up. Her long blond hair was frazzled and messy from waking up suddenly, and when standing up was only a few inches shorter than Ness. If the meteor managed to wake up Tracy, one of the heaviest sleepers he knows, then it must have been _pretty_ loud. Their mother might be awake too, ready to check up on both kids.

"Hey Tracy, you heard it too?" Ness asked.

"Yeah! You seem really freaked out, what even happened?" Tracy said, rubbing at her eyes.

"I'm not sure, but I'm going outside to check. I saw this big yellow light into the hills from my window." Ness replied.

"Oh wow! You think it's aliens?"

"…Tracy, aliens don't exist."

"Says you! I'll go with you, I wanna see for myself if it's really some weirdo alien!"

Before Ness could respond that it was really dark and it could be dangerous outside, their mother came through the door into check up on her children. She was a kind-faced, tall woman with short blond hair like Tracy, with a look of worry on her face. "Are you two alright? Did that strange noise scare you?"

"Yeah mom, we're fine," Ness responded, "but I'm gonna head out to check out what happened."

"Yeah, and I'm going too!" Tracy said.

"Er, Tracy-"

"Are you two nuts? Think of what could happen out in the dark, there could be some Sharks gang members running around, taking advantage of curious kids like you. You could get hurt."

"I'll be fine, Mom." Ness reassured. "I'll be bringing my old bat so if any of those Sharks come near me, I can at least fight them off. Remember that time last week when someone tried to mug me?"

Ness's mother sighed and ran a hand through her hair. Her son was definitely quite capable of handling himself if need be, but the Sharks were still a problem that could get Ness into trouble. Still though… "Oh, alright. You'll probably sneak out of your room anyway, so I can't stop you." Tracy started to get excited but the mother held up a hand to silence the young girl. "But nevertheless it's still too dangerous for Tracy to tag along. More targets means more opportunities for bad things to happen, and Ness can't always be there to protect you."

The girl pouted. "Aw, shucks. Well, I don't feel tired at all anymore, so can I at least be able to stay up for the night?"

The mother pursed her lips. "Okay, I suppose for this night only you may. It's summer, after all…"

"Yay!"

* * *

Armed with his bat (that had a long thin crack from the top to the hilt), Ness exited his house. Surveying the area, the light came from one of the hills to the west of their house. The only way to that light was through one of the trails leading up. Bat in hand, Ness started his way towards his destination.

On the corner of his eye to his left, he noticed a duo of police officers with barricades and a police car blocking the entrance to downtown. Ness raised an eyebrow at this but paid it no heed. After all, it was practically Onett tradition to barricade _every little potential_ trouble, and there were jokes across the town that the police were going for the world record of barricading roads to prevent passage. Still, if police appeared on the scene _this_ quickly, there's obviously something juicy that happened.

Ness continued through the path, passing by police officers patrolling the area and the natural wildlife of owls, nonpoisonous snakes, and crows until he passed by the old hermit Lier X. Agerate's house... into yet another blockade of police officers and barricades. _Welp, now it ends here_ , Ness thought, though he still approached the police officers anyway while looking back at the hill with that light. He still couldn't see what exactly that light came out from, but he could have sworn he saw the chief of the Onett Police, Captain William Strong with an unknown person with him.

One of the police officers noticed Ness walking towards them and approached the boy. "Hey, is this kid your friend?" He pointed to another figure Ness did not realize was there until was pointed to. The person in question turned out to be Ness's next door neighbor, Aaron Minch, though most people in Ness and Aaron's school had called the latter "Porky", one that Aaron strangely had accepted as an identity. Ness himself was neutral and did not want to call _anyone_ names, though Porky had irked Ness time to time due to his… questionable behavior.

Ness just shrugged and replied, "He's my neighbor, but I don't really know him well. Can't really call him a friend." The young boy pointed towards the hill with that strange light. "What happened up there that's causing such a ruckus now?"

The police officer crossed his arms. "A meteor just crashed on top of the hill here." Ness's eyes widened at the revelation and was about to ask a question, but the officer held up a hand to silence Ness and continued. "Currently our higher-ups are investigatin' to see if there will be any lastin' impact and other mumbo-jumbo. Point is, it's not somethin' you should worry about. On the other hand…" The officer jerked his thumb towards Porky, who seemed to be annoying the other police officers standing by, judging from their faces. "That boy's drivin' our team crazy here. He's been beggin' us to let him pass to check it out, but Captain Strong and Commissioner Gordon are both busy investigatin' the crash site and won't let anyone go through to see for themselves without verifyin' it's safe for the public to view. The kid won't take no for an answer, though, and we're comin' _very_ close to callin' the kid's parents to teach him a good lesson. Can you be the voice of reason to him before we have to intervene?"

"I'll try, I guess." said Ness, not looking forward to this.

"Thanks, kid." the police officer said as he walked back to his original place to survey the surrounding area again. Ness walked towards Porky, who was begging with the police officers to let him through, and called out, "Hey, Aaron! What are you doing here?"

Porky looked back and sneered. "Oh, if it isn't Ness! You shouldn't be rubberneckin', you're getting in the cops… er, officers' way!"

"Isn't that what you're doing?" Ness replied, confused at what he said versus what he was actually doing.

"Not at all, for I, Porky Minch will be discovering all there is to be said about the meteorite. You can go home now and stop bothering the officers here."

Ness almost facepalmed. "But that's what you _are_ doing, Aaron… and where's Alex? Aren't your parents going to be worried?"

"Who… oh, Picky?" Porky grunted. "He didn't want to come. And my parents are off at some stupid restaurant, I couldn't care less on what they're up to. Now shoo, I need to talk with the officers again to get a glimpse at the meteorite!"

Ness made eye contact with the police officer that approached him a few minutes ago and gave a shrug, who had a sympathetic look on his face and gestured him to leave the area, indicating all will be fine later. Since not much else could be gained trying to learn more about the meteorite right now, Ness decided to just head back home to go back to sleep. More information is sure to come in the next few days after investigations are over. Holding back a yawn, Ness began to walk back home.

After heading back home, he crawled back into bed, putting back on his pajamas, and passed out almost immediately.

* * *

Ness had an extremely bizarre dream right when he fell asleep. In it, he saw a blur of figures on a boat in a storm with rain falling very heavily, fighting against what seemed to be some huge snake-like creature, though Ness could have sworn one of those blurry figures was Ness himself. The huge snake-like creature struck the boat hard, sending the blurry figure Ness into the water while the other figures yelled out as they launched… something at the huge snake thing. Was it fire? No, it was electricity… or was that actually ice? They blurred together to the point where Ness could not see what was even happening clearly.

Those thoughts were interrupted when the snake suddenly convulsed hard, being bombarded by a group of colorful red, yellow, and blue geometric shapes and finally fell to the ocean, while blurry Ness landed in the boat, looking extremely pale and bruised and bloody while the rest of those figures helped him up and-

 ***knock* *KNOCK* *knock* *KNOCK* *KNOCK* *knock***

Ness groggily opened his eyes as he turned on the lights. Slipping out of bed, he shook his head lightly as he took in the new sound of someone knocking on his door, quite loudly. Sighing, he exited his room, passing by Tracy and his mother, who were still awake from the meteor crash and bothered by the loud knocking. He continued down the stairs to open the door to see who's causing the racket… only revealed to be Porky Minch.

"H-H-Hey! Picky's gone missing!"

"What?" This woke Ness up instantly. Though Porky was… a mixed bag, to put it nicely, Ness always had a soft spot for Alexander, Porky's brother, though he also preferred being addressed as Picky. Ness didn't understand but he rolled with it since Picky was actually one of the nicest kids Ness ever had met. "Did you know where he ran off to?"

"Yeah! The cops finished their stuff and went to go take care of some Sharks, so me and Picky went towards the meteor to check it out. But…" Porky then noticed Ness's mother in the living room, observing the two children. "Oh! Good evening ma'am, you're looking fine this evening." He snickered while Ness's mother's lips curled up in a slight smile. "Anyways, as I was saying… we checked the meteorite for any cool things. It was actually less exciting than I expected, but when I looked back after observing the meteorite, I couldn't find Picky! I think he ran off somewhere, can't you come help me? Else my parents are really going to kill me… hard…" He trailed off, shivering in fear at the thought.

Ness rolled his eyes. Chances are, Porky was fabricating some story of some sort, leaving Picky to fend for himself. But Ness said anyway, "Alright, I'll come help. But only because I like Alex and want to make sure he's alright."

"Yay!" Porky did a slight jump in the air out of joy. "I knew you were my bestest friend! Let's get out of here and find Picky... after you say good-bye to your mom and change out of those pajamas."

Ness looked down before blushing, realizing he was still in his pajamas. Rushing up to his room, he quickly changed back into his usual clothes and made his way downstairs where his mother was waiting.

"Before you leave, you should take King with you," Ness's mother said, gesturing towards the family dog, who was peacefully napping next to the sofa. "He might be old, unreliable, and lazy, but he could help find Alexander for you."

"Alright, mom. I've also got my bat with me, so we'll definitely be fine." Ness said as he approached King and called, "Hey boy. Time to go find Alex!"

Ness couldn't explain it, but for some reason he felt like he could "talk" to animals and hear their thoughts. He couldn't explain it and thought it was strange since everyone else but his family thought it was bizarre, but over time he slowly just accepted the fact. The dog "replied", (Do you want me to come? I got fleas sucking me dry and I'm tired…)

"Oh, it's only gonna take like ten or fifteen minutes, King. Let's go!" Ness said, rubbing around the old dog's ears.

(Fine…) King replied as he slowly rose and joined Ness and Porky, who was standing next to the door, leaning on the wall.

"Be careful, Ness and Aaron!" Ness's mother called as Ness readied his bat in his hands.

"Alright! Let's blow this popsicle stand!" Porky cheered as the three exited the house. "You take the lead and I'll go follow at a safe distance. You got that, Ness?"

Ness rolled his eyes but didn't say anything.

* * *

Ness, Porky, and King made their way back to the meteorite crash site. Most of the police were gone, presumably to take care of the sudden Sharks problem in downtown Onett. King started to sniff the air for Picky as they made their way to the site. Ness sensed something was wrong, though, and stopped moving.

"Ness…? What's up?" Porky asked fearfully, he and King also stopping in place.

"It's quiet… too quiet right now." Ness tensed up, holding his bat in two hands. "Normally there are owls out and about and some other wildlife here, but it's complete dead silence right now."

"But that meteorite should have scared them all off, wouldn't they?"

"It could be, but when I first going through here I still saw some wildlife… hm…"

Suddenly, King gave out a low growl as he stared ahead at the path. Ness could hear his thoughts: (I'm sensing some sketchy things beyond these hills. We should be careful!) At the sound of his growl, Ness gripped his bat even harder, bracing himself for what would come next. "I have a bad feeling about this," he spoke. "It might be some stray Sharks member hiding here to take advantage of the police leaving or something else, so just be careful."

A nearby bush started shaking. Ness quickly turned towards it, keeping an eye on it, readying his bat for any threat. The bush kept shaking, then suddenly a coil snake jumped out, aiming for Porky.

"Aiiiiieeeeeeeee!" he squealed, jumping back and hiding behind Ness, using him as a shield. "That snake was almost gonna kill me!"

The coil snake turned towards Ness and Porky, hissing at the boys and lunged forward. King yelped and also lunged towards the snake, knocking the snake off course and landed on the ground. Getting angry, the snake made a move towards King, but before it can do anything, Ness raised his bat to hit the snake and swung it at the snake's head. The bat connected, making a **_SMAAAASH!_** sound. The snake instantly fell down and stopped moving, while Ness just stared at his surroundings while Porky was hyperventilating and King circled back towards Ness's side.

"D-D-Did you see that? That was so scary!" Porky gasped.

"…Yeah." Ness agreed. Something really wasn't right. Wildlife around the hills was never violent and attacked people along the roads. "Let's go find Alex before anything happens to him… or us."

* * *

Next up is Chapter 1, where we start bringing in the changes, big and small, from the base game. Stay tuned!


	2. Chapter One

**Earthbound: The War Against Giygas! - Chapter One**

 **Author's Note**

Now things are getting interesting with those changes I mentioned. Let's do it!

* * *

The rest of the journey to the meteorite was no less eventful. In addition to coil snakes running around, there was also a stray dog attacking the group of three. Thankfully, either one well-aimed swing from Ness's bat or a swipe from King was enough to drive away each enemy, though Porky made it a point to stay clear of any danger.

"You have any idea why these animals are attacking us now, of all times?" Porky asked Ness, almost clinging onto him.

"No idea." Ness replied. "But I have a feeling this isn't the end of it." At that, a stray dog just came out of another bush and leapt at Porky, but King intercepted the dog, tackling it to the ground and delivered a swipe and bite to the other dog.

(These things are everywhere! I don't know how much of this I can take…) Ness heard King's thoughts, and just nodded in response. Ness kneeled down and petted the dog on his head, rubbing around the back of his ears. "I don't know, boy, but we're going to find Alex and get out here." Ness said, looking up towards the hill housing the meteor.

As they made it up near Lier X. Agerate's house, however, their next threat was quite a bit more dangerous. Two coil snakes and a crow came out of the woods and noticed Ness and his party. Hissing and cawing, the wild animals charged towards Ness. He was ready for them, though, and promptly swung his bat at the incoming two snakes and put them down quite easily. However, this put him in harm's way for the crow to sneak up on him and peck on his body, scratching his left arm. Ness gave a slight cry of pain as the crow made contact and swung his bat at the crow, but it flew away, evading the attack. He tried swinging the bat at the crow again, but the pain on his left arm was distracting to Ness, so he missed the crow. Meanwhile, King growled and charged towards the crow, but the crow evaded his attack as well and flew up out of range of both Ness and King, cawing maniacally. Ness grunted with pain as he braced himself for the crow to fly towards him again. The crow wised up and circled Ness's head, out of batting range, then flew towards Ness again. He tried to swing again, but the crow flew back again. Porky, as usual, was doing his best to avoid getting his hands dirty, this time attempting to "play dead".

 **"YA** ** _HOOOOOOOOOO_** **!"**

Ness and his group was startled by a sudden shout as a large, middle-aged man burst into the scene, with a shovel in hand. The crow was startled by the sudden shout and slowly dipped below, leaving it exposed for a large _SMACK_ from said shovel. The crow got comically shot across the field like a baseball landing around ten feet away, never to rise again. Ness and Porky, who stopped playing dead at this point, eyed their savior as the newcomer turned his gaze towards them. The man had wild, yet also strangely neat black hair, with a blue shirt and black pants, with a mix of black and white facial hair around his mouth. Ness immediately recognized him as the old hermit of the Onett hills, Lier X. Agerate.

"Ha ha! That's right, baby - Lier X. Agerate at your service, bringing doom and gloom to all crazy-ass beings." The hermit exclaimed as he flexed his right arm while carrying his shovel in the other hand. He then saw Ness and his group in greater detail and his face brightened in recognition. "Ah, if it isn't Ness! What brings you up here at this time of the day, young man? Don't know that it's been pretty damn dangerous around here with that meteorite and the shtick?"

Ness eyed his scratch on his left arm, pressing his hand against the wound, then back at Lier. "We're looking for Alex, Aaron's brother here." he explained. "Apparently according to Aaron, he ran off when both of them were exploring the meteorite site to check it out."

"Ahhh." Lier nodded. "Well that meteorite had no effect on me, I can say so that much! That's what you get when you work out underground and eat garlic for breakfast, lunch, and supper. Any lesser man would have probably fainted by that meteorite! And it seems you boys've been eating them too, seeing you're all wide-eyed awake now, eh?"

Ness, not really paying attention, just nodded back and examined his wound. It wasn't a large cut - Ness had some worse bruises and injuries during baseball games, but regardless it still needed attention as soon as possible. "Well, we'll be heading out to keep searching for Alex. Do you know where he's at?" Ness asked.

Lier raised his hand to his chin and rubbed it thoughtfully. "Well, now that you mention it… I've heard a kid's voice up at the hill next to the meteorite. Chances are, if the little critters around here didn't get him first, he's probably just hanging around up there. Good kids tend to stay in one place, no?"

"I suppose so." Ness said, satisfied with the answer. He turned back to Porky and King, pointing his thumb towards the meteor. "Alright guys, we've wasted enough time here; let's just find Alex and get out of here. It's been a long night and I need to get this scratch looked at soon."

"Hold up!" Lier interrupted. "Before you kids go off, I'd like to talk to Ness privately, if that's alright?"

Ness turned towards the man. "We're in a hurry, so this needs to be quick," he said.

"Nah, it's gonna be sorted out in a jiffy. Just come over here." Lier beckoned. The boy just shrugged and obliged, but not before turning back to Porky and King saying, "This shouldn't take a long time, I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Hurry!" Porky urged. "Before my parents come home and go from killing me to… doing something worse! I don't know, but I can't risk that happening to me-er, us!"

That was enough motivation for Ness to hurry up as well, ironically. Porky wasn't all _that_ bad and Picky was cool, though his parents were twenty times worse than even Porky. They were by far the biggest examples of human scum he knew and were part of the reason why Ness didn't pick on Porky like other kids at school did due to his knowledge of his family being out of whack and presumably treating Porky like garbage, but that still didn't completely excuse Porky's cowardly and crummy behavior. Ness sighed and approached Lier. "Alright, Mr. Agerate, what was it you needed?"

The hermit looked at Ness with a serious gaze on him, no sign of quirkiness or giddiness in his face. "Say… come tomorrow morning, come to my place. There's something interesting I want to show you… in private, away from other prying eyes."

Ness was confused. "Alright… why though? And why me of all people to show?"

"Ha! One question at a time, boy!" He chuckled loudly. "But as for why it's private, it's something… big I've discovered only a few hours ago when working underground. I think it was around the time the meteorite landed, come to think of it." His eyes drifted off to thought for a bit before refocusing back to Ness. "And for you being my choice… I've seen you out and about playing baseball with your kiddies for years by this point, and you've always seemed like a nice, young man when we chat. There's no other kid out there in Onett I'd trust more than you, Ness."

Ness felt flattered by the hermit's words. Still, he was somewhat wary, knowing how coo-coo Lier could be. He shrugged internally and said, "Okay, I'll come by tomorrow."

"Perfect, my boy!" Lier exclaimed happily. "Well, I'll let you and your merry band go on. You've got a brother to find, eh?"

Ness nodded. "Yup." He turned back to Porky and King, who were both leaning back against a tree and sitting down next to a bush respectively. "Hey guys, let's get back to finding Picky!"

* * *

Fortunately from that point on, there was no more wildlife gone mad. Ness, Porky, and King went all the way to the top of hill with the meteor, searching for the lost brother. "Hey Alex! Where are you?" Ness called out, cupping his hands next to his mouth. His wound stopped flowing blood, but it still stung a tiny bit.

"Yo Picky! If you're here, come out, otherwise our parents are really going to stick it to us!" Porky also called out.

King was sniffing around, looking for Picky's scent until he got something and barked out loud, indicating he found something. He bolted forward, behind a tree, and started barking louder.

(This must be Alex... or was it Picky? I forget.) King "said". (He was all asleep here for some time it seems... come over here, Ness!) Ness heard his thoughts instantly and went over to him, beckoning Porky to join him as well. "Hey, King found something! I think it's Alex." Ness called out. "Mm, he's been asleep… hey Alex, you feeling alright?" Ness shook the boy awake.

The ten year old's eyes suddenly snapped awake. He was a stark contrast with Porky; where Porky was far more fat in figure, Picky was more lean and willowy and his bangs didn't completely cover his eyes like Porky's hair did. Otherwise, he looked the same as Porky, except for the obvious difference between their weight. He groaned, presumably from waking up from a nap, and rubbed his eyes as he rose.

"Oh, hi Ness… and Porky?" He said, confused. "I've been looking for you everywhere here after you ran off… are you serious, leaving your younger brother here?"

Porky turned red. "Hey! I've been looking for help, since it was gonna get dangerous! I didn't wanna risk anything to happen to us."

"Pfft, yeah, it was _your_ idea to check out the meteorite." Picky crossed his arms, obviously not that happy with his brother. "And you know what was also your idea? Just running off home or wherever because you got scared, only thinking for yourself, without thinking of your brother while I'm here trying to look for _you_. Sheesh, now I'm wondering if _I'm_ the real older brother here…"

Porky said nothing, his attention focused more on the meteorite now, gazing at it intently for some reason.

Ness held up his hands as a gesture for both to calm down. "Well, that doesn't really matter now. We've found you, Alex, so let's just get back home before your parents rag on all of us. Let's go… er, Aaron?" Ness noticed Porky staring at the meteorite with a confused on his face.

"What's wrong?" Ness asked.

Porky didn't look at him, but said, "Do you hear something weird? It sounds like a bee, coming from the meteorite!"

Ness looked at him blankly. "Aaron, bees don't live in meteorites."

"I'm serious! I swear there's some bug floating around here-"

Suddenly, a burst of golden light erupted from the meteorite, cracking it open and knocking all three boys down to the ground. King, extremely startled by this sudden noise and light, yelped and dashed away from the scene, back towards home. Before he went too far out, Ness heard (Yikes! I'm outta here, this is too scary for me!) from King as he slowly disappeared into the view. The beam of light slowly gave way to reveal… a larger-than-average bee? It didn't look natural however, looking more mechanical than natural in aesthetics.

"A bee… I am…" the metallic bee said slowly and clearly. Wait, _said_? "Not."

"Oh my gosh!" Porky screamed and ran out, hiding behind a tree. "It's a bee! A really, _really_ HUGE stinkin' bee! I told you so, Ness! It's gonna sting me and it's going to hurt _real badly_!"

Ness was startled too at the reveal, and just stared at the bee with his mouth open. Picky was too shocked from the reveal to even react. Finally though, Ness took control over himself.

"Y-Y-You're… a bee, though…?"

The "not-bee" buzzed around slightly indignantly. "As I have stated earlier, I am not a bee. However with that being said… you may call me Buzz Buzz. No, I am a survivor of a doomed future. A future cursed to darkness and devastation, ten years from now…"

"Whoa whoa whoa, hold up. Ten years… from the future?" Ness interrupted. "That's impossible, even if you are a talking bee-I mean, whatever you are."

"Yes, ten years into the future." Buzz Buzz said impatiently, buzzing around. "But let me finish! In ten years time… Giygas, the Universal Cosmic Destroyer will take over the world and subjugate all life to his will. I escaped into the past to avert this dark future destined to happen should Giygas strike unopposed."

"But we're just kids." Ness said, somewhat skeptical about what the bee was saying. "What does this have to do with us?"

"Once again, I implore you to let me finish." Ness became quiet at that command and decided to hear out the rest of what the…insect had to say. "Yes… as I was saying. Where I am from, there exists a prophecy by the Apple of Enlightenment… an artifact of immense power that foretells the fall of Giygas, passed down generation after generation. It goes:

 _"When the chosen boy reaches the point,_

 _he will find the light._

 _The passing of time will shatter the nightmare rock,_

 _and reveal the path of light._

"You see, it is my opinion that you are that boy, Ness." the insect said, buzzing around a bit more excitedly.

Ness just sat there in silence. Him being a hero? An average, carefree boy, worried more about when it's baseball or steak dinner time, _saving the world_ from some monstrous threat? That is a preposterous thought - there were no fairy tales of "chosen ones" or other such nonsense in the _real_ world. Despite all that, the first thing that Ness managed to say: "You know my name?"

"Yes, you are most well-known from my time period. Giygas aimed to dispatch you quickly so you would not interfere in his plans. And speaking of…" Buzz Buzz continued on his explanation. "With that in mind, the beginning of Giygas's plans were traced back to this present year. I fear he is already setting his plans in motion, no doubt starting his plan for world domination… but do not fear!" it added in an optimistic tone. "Should you confront the enemy immediately, we may have a chance against Giygas… as long as you remain steadfast in wisdom, friendship, and courage. The legends of ancient times proclaim that three boys and a girl will rise to face the evil, chosen by the Apple of Enlightenment. This group is known as the Chosen Four, blessed by the power of the earth to protect it from encompassing evil."

Ness thought over his words. Psychic powers? As far as he was aware according to television and school, psychic powers were fake. This information dump just came out of nowhere and he wasn't sure how to react; it was quite a lot for Ness to process. "I'm sorry," he said slowly. "But I think you've got the wrong person. I don't have psychic powers of any sort… I'm just an average person with an average life. I'm not this destined 'chosen one' you're saying."

"Mm, you do not need to believe it just yet. Answer this, though: have you ever seen anything out of the ordinary, have anything you cannot explain happening? For example... talking to animals?" the insect asked.

The boy froze. No one but his family knew about his ability to talk to animals. Ness slowly asked, "How do you know about that?"

"Even that little gift, my boy, confirms you are a psychic." Buzz Buzz stated triumphantly. "That is a latent telepathic ability every psychic possesses, though to what extent beyond talking to animals depends on the psychic in question. Some psychics have telepathy as their main strength while others are telekinetic. Still others may not have a strength, but rather be able to master all. There are far more psychic powers to list, but I am getting ahead of myself right now. You possess a very powerful power, and with that you and the other children stand a chance against Giygas." The metallic not-bee then hovered close to Ness, around his head. "There are several powers you are very close to unlocking, one of which can heal that wound on your left arm." At this point, Ness just remembered his arm had been injured during that crow attack and looked at it. Though the blood stopped flowing some time ago, it still looked a bit worrying and his arm was fairly covered with blood. "It is called Lifeup… reach into your mind, concentrate on the psychic power flowing through you and call upon the command to mend your wound."

"Okay." Ness said uncertainly. He tried what the insect told him, though he had no idea exactly what he meant by "reaching into your mind." Just like that, though, Ness felt something new. A surge of power coursed through his body, tingling him with energy. "Lifeup!"

Immediately, the wound stopped flowing and started to sew itself back up. Skin fused back together and even his arm was cleared of any bloodstains. After the process, as sudden as the surge of power, it left his body and Ness suddenly felt very tired and ready for a nap, drained of... mind energy? Spiritual? Definitely wasn't anything physical, that was for sure.

"Wow," he breathed. "So psychic powers are real…"

"Indeed. You will be discovering more as you fight your way against Giygas." The insect said. "I will tell you more later - I presume you have a duty to fulfill to your friend?"

Ness just realized that they still had to get Picky and Porky home before their parents came home. He looked over to Picky, who was mesmerized in the sight of the bee and meteor until he realized "story-time" was over, and Porky, who was still hiding behind that tree. Porky poked his head out and approached Ness and the not-bee fearfully.

"Whoa, Ness! That seems like a lot of trouble that bee told you." He said. "It said three boys? Um, me and Picky aren't those two, right? Because… uh… I'm not sure I'm really cut out for this."

"For once, I'll have to agree with Porky." Picky spoke up. "I mean, it's just that, for some reason, I don't feel like I'm a part of that prophecy. I'm just worse at Ness in nearly every way, so it makes sense if I'm not part of it."

"Oh, don't say that about yourself." Ness said to Picky. "You're a lot more brave than people give credit for, and you've got a lot of good qualities about you still." He slung his bat over his shoulder. "Anyways, it's time for you two to get home before your parents get us killed before this Giygas creep does." he joked, getting an uneasy laugh from Picky and a shiver from Porky. Buzz Buzz gazed at Porky, getting an unsettling feeling from him. In his time, he also witnessed another child, this time with malicious intent, wreaking havoc on the world as one of Giygas's lieutenants before somehow invoking Giygas's wrath in some way and being disposed of. He shrugged inwardly as he followed the group of kids.

* * *

The trip down the hill was oddly very quiet. This time, there was no hostile wildlife ready to jump on the party. Ness was wary and had his bat out in case something else was hiding, but nothing so far.

"So Buzz Buzz, while we're here, tell me more about psychic powers." Ness asked Buzz Buzz, who was circling around his head.

Buzz Buzz paused and made a clicking noise. "Alright. Do note that even though we know quite a bit about psychic powers, or more commonly known as PSI, short for psionic powers, there are still many unknown factors no one but Giygas and his race knows."

"Whoa wait, there's more of where Giygas came from?" Ness asked, curious now.

"Yes." the metallic "bee" said. "He's the leader of an endangered extraterrestrial race known as the Giegans. He was the only recorded Giegan known to humanity until a discovery by the top-secret government officials that will happen two years from now, and even then we know next to nothing about them, except they possess immense PSI powers.

"Back to PSI, however. As I have stated before, there are many types of PSI powers, but there are three types of PSI: support, restoration, and offensive, offensive PSI more commonly known as PK, short for psychokinesis powers. I am most proficient with support and restoration PSI, which can provide a variety of effects like group increases to offensive or defensive prowess and healing, either for myself, others, or the entire party. On the other hand, I lack PK abilities and cannot use any. PK abilities range from using the elements of fire, ice, and thunder to other unique moves, of which we do not know the full extent of.

"And my restoration PSI comes at a drawback, at least for me." Buzz Buzz continued. "Lifeup or similar PSI will not work on pure metallic bodies like this one. While you can make metallic bodies that can support Lifeup compatibility, this body was made before such a thing was possible. As such, I must remain vigilant to use my PSI to protect my body from damage as even one hit could possibly be fatal."

Ness just nodded as the view around them slowly cleared up to show the houses. When the group reached the intersection between the trail into the hills and the road holding both Ness and the Minch's house, however, suddenly a huge white pillar of light materialized in front of the group, revealing a silver, metallic man-looking thing in a suit with a visor as a head. Instead of arms however, it seemed to have tentacles instead, on its hips with an emblem emblazed on its top-left part of its torso.

"Get back!" Buzz Buzz called. "That's one of Giygas's henchmen, a Starman!"

"Gah! I'm outta here, see you guys later!" Porky yelped as he ran away out of sheer terror and hid behind a bush. Ness and Picky, on the other hand, braced themselves, the former readying his cracked bat as the Starman cackled.

"Heh heh heh… it has been a long time, 'Buzz Buzz'." the Starman said, presumably from a built-in speaker. "You've been successful at thwarting Master Giygas's plans. But now…" The Starman raised both tendrils threateningly. "Your little hero play shall come to an end. You're not a hero anymore, just a worthless insect. Die in the name of Master Giygas!"

"I can still make a difference, here and now, pawn of Giygas! PSI Shield!" Buzz Buzz called. Immediately, purple lights materialized in view, all surrounding Ness, Picky, and Buzz Buzz himself. Even Porky, from behind his bush, was covered by the field, then the purple light died down into nothingness.

"That shall render the Starman's PK useless! It will not hold forever though, so strike back!"

"Got it!" Ness called back as he readied his bat and swung it at the Starman. The Starman just stood there as the bat made contact with the visor… and it came out completely untouched!

"Wha-" Ness said confused before the Starman laughed and swiped at Ness with a tendril, sending him back by ten feet and landing on the ground, shaking the boy and scraping his legs and arms as he rolled across the ground. Ness clenched his teeth as he slowly got up.

"Did you really think that puny little toy can hurt _me_ , an elite soldier of Giygas? Either you are brave, stupid, or both!" The Starman raised up both tentacles. "PK Fire!"

Instantly, a burst of fire materialized from the Starman, growing and growing until it stopped growing, then the Starman launched it towards Ness. Ness squeezed his eyes shut and raised a hand over his face as he braced himself for the end when the heat came closer and closer… until, nothing happened? Ness opened his eyes and saw that the fire blast broke off into two directions, causing the psychic shield to flare into existence. The psychic shield Buzz Buzz put up had just saved Ness's life.

"Stay calm, Ness!" Buzz Buzz assured. "Offense Up! Defense Up!"

Immediately, Ness felt a wealth of strength coursing through his body. He felt stronger than ever, as if he could lift a mountain over a river. Judging from the name of that PSI move, it was a temporary buff to his strength and defense? He got up, readied his attack, and rushed towards the Starman and swung his bat at it again. This time, the Starman flinched slightly, taking a step back from the impact.

"Not bad, little boy." The Starman taunted. "But if this is the extent of what these Chosen Ones can do, then I must say… I'm fairly disappointed." He swung at Ness again, but Ness's augmented defense from Buzz Buzz's PSI caused the attack to not be very effective. Growling, the Starman raised one tendril and aimed it at Ness. "Out of my sight! PK Thunder!"

A bolt of lightning instantly shot from the tendril, impacting the shield over Ness, sending him back by another ten feet, away from the Starman. The shield flared into existence again, straining against the lightning bolt, turning more and more opaque until eventually it exhausted its energy and cracked, making the sound of shattered glass. Thankfully, the lightning was completely stopped, but Ness was now completely vulnerable to more PSI attacks.

"Hey, stupid!" Ness heard Picky's voice as Picky had a hand-sized rock in his hand and threw it at the Starman. "Get a load of this, tin man!" The rock bounced harmlessly off the Starman, but it got its attention anyway, turning towards the ten year old.

"You brat! How dare you embarrass me… PK Freeze!"

The Starman was charging up a blue orb of energy and launched it towards Picky. Fortunately, Buzz Buzz's shield prevented that from directly hitting Picky, though the shield showed very large signs of strain from the impact. Picky stared back at the Starman in fear, eying his shield's faltering condition and the _very_ angered Starman.

"No! Alex!" Ness yelled, starting to rush towards the Starman again. Even though Buzz Buzz's shield was protecting Picky, he was still afraid for the kid's life as the shield looked to be on the verge of collapse. Before the Starman could power up another psychic attack though, Buzz Buzz lunged towards the Starman and lodged itself into its visor. The Starman cried out in pain as Buzz Buzz struck an important part within the visor, causing static to coursed through its body. It tried to strike at Buzz Buzz, but kept swinging at air as Buzz Buzz was lodged inside the visor. Ness faltered for a bit, in awe of the Starman floundering around, trying to hit the insectoid warrior.

"Now, Ness! Strike now when he's preoccupied! Defense Down!" Buzz Buzz called, causing the Starman's armor to glow in a strange, dull color. "His armor should be weakened, go!"

Ness gritted his teeth as he readied his bat and ran up to the Starman. Gripping it in two hands, he swung the bat, home-run style, at the Starman. With Ness's enhanced strength and the Starman's lowered defense, the blow easily crumpled into the Starman, further distracting and damaging him. Buzz Buzz dislodged itself from the Starman's visor and struck again, striking at its weak point within the visor once more. The Starman fell down, face-first, down to the ground.

"Ergh… this isn't… the end…" The Starman sputtered. "Master… Giygas… plan… shall succeed…" With its last words, the Starman exploded, sending debris all over. Ness and Picky shielded their face as they both raised an arm over their head, while Buzz Buzz flew upwards, back to Ness's head.

"Phew… that was far too risky." Buzz Buzz gasped. "That Starman came directly from my time to kill me. Thankfully it was Junior-class - built specifically for assassination and scouting, not front-line combat, so all it really had for offense was PK abilities."

"Well then," Ness said, heart beating really hard from the adrenaline rush. "By chance, do you know what else we can expect?"

"Giygas has an inherent evil charisma, able to bend ill-willed humans and animals to his will." Buzz Buzz replied. "His influence can reach across an entire world, though people with little evil in their thoughts will not be affected as much. His army also consists more of those Starmen, as well as a whole host of otherworldly creatures. I'll point out more of them to you when we encounter each of these enemies, but be mindful about fighting humans and animals along your journey. Majority of the time they are acting outside of their will and instead under the control of Giygas. So if they beg for mercy, please give it to them."

"I'll keep that in mind, Buzz Buzz." Ness replied back. "The least I can do after you literally saved me and Picky's life."

Suddenly, Porky burst out of the bush, gleefully yelling, "Yay! We've won!"

Ness and Picky both facepalmed. Porky had literally done _nothing_ in that fight. Hell, even _Picky_ helped contribute to the fight by distracting the Starman Junior with a rock. Still, both just shrugged to each other and moved on to the Minch's house, ready to just get Porky and Picky back home.

* * *

The Minch's house was a nice, large two-story house with a well-maintained garden. Porky and Picky stepped to the doorway with Ness and Buzz Buzz following them in. Inside, both parents were inside the living room, both eying Porky and Picky with terrifyingly angry expressions.

"Um… hi mom and dad." Picky spoke up.

"Where the **_hell_** have you two been?!" Lardna Minch, Porky and Picky's mother yelled out, with Porky and Picky instinctively flinching at the venom in her voice and even Ness and Buzz Buzz jumping a bit. Mrs. Minch was a plump figure, just like Porky, with makeup heavily plastered on her face and wild, badly combed blond hair. Aloysius Minch, the father, was also a stout man with a fancy suit and blond hair. Both of them were fairly short, only a few inches above Ness's height. "Both of you two are going to be punished for wandering out this late at night!"

The two brothers looked at their parents with fearful eyes, wondering what punishment would be served this time.

"Both of you go to your room! You two are going to get it harder than any other punishment, you two delinquents." Mr. Minch spat out.

Ness locked eyes with Picky for a second and gave him a sympathetic look, while Picky just shrugged back. Both brothers trudged upstairs as their father followed them upstairs, presumably to give them a good old-fashioned beating.

"Honestly, those two pieces of crap for children." Mrs. Minch said derisively. "Never doing what their poor parents tell them to do, disrespecting their parents' values they setup for their children…"

Ness grew angry at those preposterous claims, but multiple past experiences with trying to speak back at those sorry excuses as parents taught Ness that it was futile to even try. Buzz Buzz, however, grew extremely enraged at these claims and hovered close to Mrs. Minch, buzzing angrily. Mrs. Minch noticed the buzzing sound and yelped out loud.

"AYIEEEEEEEEE! A dung beetle! I'll smash your guts in two!" she yelled as she swung a hand against Buzz Buzz. Realizing too late, Buzz Buzz couldn't avoid the hand in time before he got struck by Mrs. Minch's meaty hand, sending him to the ground next to Ness's feet. Ness cried out in shock but had to restrain himself so he wouldn't look crazy next to the Mrs. Minch, who already had a pretty poor opinion of Ness in the first place. Mrs. Minch didn't notice Ness's outburst though, after striking Buzz Buzz decided to go leave the area and head upstairs, grumbling about how bugs are starting to get inside their house and getting the entire house crawling with them.

With her out of the picture though, Ness bent over to find Buzz Buzz, carrying his body in his hands and rushed out of the house. "Buzz Buzz! Are you alright?" he whispered in panic for his new friend.

"Oh…" Buzz Buzz coughed. "That… was quite foolish of me…"

"You'll be fine, right?" Ness cried. "You can't die now! There's still so many things I need to know about Giygas and PSI! Lifeup!"

A warm glow of energy flowed through Ness, but Buzz Buzz appeared to be unchanged. Ness recalled Buzz Buzz's previous words and realized - this was the end of the line for the warrior from the future.

"Ugh… deep down, I knew that eventually, my time would be up here." Buzz Buzz lamented. "It is alright… do not worry. I can still aid you here, Ness… see… you..."

Suddenly, Buzz Buzz started glowing, shining brightly and his body heating up slightly. Ness averted his eyes until the intense light stopped, where Buzz Buzz's body was replaced with a small, translucent yellow stone. It radiated with a soft, golden light, and Ness felt a feeling of safety and warmth from the small stone.

 _"No time for sadness._ " Ness heard Buzz Buzz's words in his head, seemingly coming from the stone. " _You will not be alone in your quest to defeat Giygas. I may have no access to PSI resorting to this form, but I will still able to help you in other ways._ _Good luck, Ness… you must rest for the night."_ Buzz Buzz's voice faded off, the stone going quiet. Suddenly, Ness felt a wave of calm and tranquility through his mind, washing away all previous doubt and fear in his mind from the past hour. Ness pocketed the stone in his pocket and started to head home, ready to break the news to his family on his destiny.

* * *

Alright! It's time for the adventure to begin for our protagonist. Anyways… those changes/additions!

\- Yay, Buzz Buzz still "lives", now available to play a greater role in our plot without being sidelined to being Mr. Exposition! Yahoo! And even an explanation as to why you can't just Lifeup him when he get swatted, but provides another reason as to why you _can_ at the end of the game in robot bodies… However, he will still be completely useless in battle, only popping up between battles and story sequences. He's done his plot exposition about PSI already, but there's more to learn about the little bugger. This is only one of many big additions I've got planned for the little bugger, and he will be far more important to the story as a result. And just because we've averted one death doesn't mean there won't be more tragic stuff happening.

\- The Starman Junior fight could have been more exciting, so I decided to add more PSI abilities to both Buzz Buzz and Starman Junior. Not much was added to be fair and the action may have been a bit subpar, but hey. Baby steps, and it's the start of the fic anyway.

\- Giygas's race is now named and acknowledged! I always found it strange that Earthbound Beginnings had mentioned them slightly, but in Earthbound they just dropped it completely. I get that Earthbound can be seen as a reimagining of Earthbound Beginnings, but for the sake of continuity to connect both games I will be bringing back that detail to this fic. I have ideas floating around for them, but I'm not sure if I can ever get use out of them here. Maybe in a different fic, taking place after Earthbound's plot? I don't want to introduce cool elements like this and not get a use out of them.

Finally, this story will be crossposted to Archive of Our Own (AO3), under the same pen name as here! It will pop up there within 2-3 days, depending on when I receive my invitation. If you have an AO3 account, show your support there as well if you can.

See you for Chapter 2, where Mark my II cents, PSI gets Flyin' and it'll be Stein to SAVE THE WORLD! …Ok that's absolutely horrible.

 ** _*holds nose tightly and ducks under the onslaught of rotten tomatoes*_**


	3. Chapter Two

**EarthBound: The War Against Giygas! - Chapter Two**

 **Author's Note**

The AO3 mirror is now up! In addition, I decided to update the cover so it looks more professional. Nothing else aside from that though, let's get on with the show.

* * *

As Ness headed home, with Buzz Buzz's stone in his pocket, the faint light of dawn broke through the sky, with birds chirping in the air. It had been a very long night, with the revelation that some eldritch abomination is threatening to take over the world and he and three other children were the only ones capable of putting an end to Giygas's plans. For now though, all Ness cared about was crashing and getting some well-deserved rest. When he went inside through the door, he saw his mother sitting next to the home telephone, talking with someone in a hushed voice. Tracy wasn't around, but knowing her she was probably in her room doing girly stuff or whatever.

"Hey mom, I'm home." Ness called out. His mother looked up from the phone and smiled back, speaking into the phone, "I'll be back shortly, honey," before laying the phone down and looked at Ness.

"Welcome home, Ness. You've been gone for quite longer than expected, did it take you a long time to find Alexander?" she said.

Ness, at this point, wasn't sure if he should break the news about him needing to go out to save the world and leaving home right now. Despite his initial drive to spill the details right then and there, he needed to find the right time to talk. After all, this seemed like some huge adventure that would no doubt take a few months, and there would no doubt be complications with him and school should he be gone too long. He was too tired to think properly though, so he decided to put it off until later and consult Buzz Buzz again in the morning.

"Yeah, it took some time." he replied, yawning loudly. "He wandered off from the crash site so it took us some more time to find him and bring him back. I'm beat though, I'm gonna go sleep… I'll talk more in the morning."

"Alright, Ness. Good night and sweet dreams!" she said, as she lifted up the phone again. Ness, dead tired and couldn't think of anything but sleep, dashed up the stairs, towards his room.

Meanwhile, Ness's mother was eying him as he made his way up the stairs. Making sure the room was clear and he wasn't prying into their conversation, she lifted the telephone back to her ear, her smile evaporating into a worried frown.

"…As I was saying, I worry for Ness. He doesn't know yet, but I saw that him fighting that Starman. I'm proud of him, but I fear for him… I don't know if we should tell him everything we know…"

* * *

Ness awoke to bright sunlight piercing through his window, directly into his eyes. He groaned as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and got up, sitting on his bed. He pulled Buzz Buzz's stone out of his pocket and stared at it, thinking over how to break the news to his family about leaving home to embark on an adventure to save the world. No matter how Ness thought over how to approach the issue, though, it seemed like it would be too weak of a story to sell. The problem Ness was faced with last night still persisted, even after a good night's sleep; the situation was far too unlikely and strange to be even be considered half-way believable. Stumped for an idea, he decided to try the next best option available.

"Hey Buzz Buzz, are you there?" Ness whispered to the stone. It glowed softly with a light yellow color, and Ness felt something touch his mind.

" _Ah, Ness. You are awake now!_ " Buzz Buzz said, clear as day.

"Heh, yeah I am." Ness said. "But before that… I have some questions first, about me and Giygas, and more of PSI." He added.

" _What would you like to know more about?_ " Buzz Buzz asked.

"Well… anything, really. Like, I know I need to beat Giygas, but I have no clue what I'm even supposed to do from this point. And more of PSI stuff, I guess."

" _Mm. Then let's begin: Giygas is unlike any threat known to mankind. To combat his power, you require power and strength of equal measure. The only power known to rival or surpass Giygas's PSI power is the Earth's power, and to harness it you must visit the eight sources of power across the earth, known as Sanctuaries, and siphon energy from each of these spots into your Sound Stone._ "

"Sound Stone?"

" _Indeed, what you are holding now._ " Buzz Buzz said dryly. Ness almost did a double-take, but let Buzz Buzz continue. " _The Sound Stone also acts as way to mark which Sanctuaries you have visited, as well as point you in the direction of the next. But it can only show the general location, not the exact, so do not rely on it too much. Ah, yes… and speaking of Sanctuaries, our first to visit is Giant Step, but all I know is it is close to Onett. We must go there first._ "

"Hm, okay. But there's just one problem before we go."

" _What is it_?"

"Listen… I don't know how to tell my family about you, PSI, and Giygas. It would just seem so off and weird to them… they wouldn't believe me." Ness paused for a second. "Well, I guess Tracy would believe it, she believes anything. But my mom wouldn't, really."

" _Would that not be simple?"_ Buzz Buzz questioned. _"A simple demonstration of PSI would be enough to validate your claims. It does not have to specific abilities like PK or Lifeup, but other general powers like telepathy and telekinesis. I have been observing you throughout last night, Ness, before I had to abandon my insect body. Not only were you close to realizing Lifeup when we first met, but you were close to realizing other psychic powers, like basic telekinesis."_

Ness perked up at the suggestion. Except… "Well, I still need to learn telekinesis. Can you help me with that?"

" _Certainly, it would not take long for the basics._ _Let us start - do you see something too far you cannot reach? Focus on it and tap into your psychic energy. Channel your energy as you exert your force on it, bringing it to your will_."

Ness eyed a lone hardcover book on his desk. Focusing his gaze on it, he searched for that energy, diving into his mind until he hit that spark of power again, similar to his realization of Lifeup. The book's cover rose a bit, the rest of the book not cooperating with the telekinetic pull. Before long though, Ness started to get tired and let go of the telekinetic grab, the cover falling back in place.

" _Close enough._ " Buzz Buzz said approvingly. " _That should be enough to alleviate your fears. More of your powers will surface along your journey: some in the heat of battle, others when meditating. And if you are persistent in your practice and training, you can develop your telekinesis even further._ "

Ness grinned weakly at the praise and potential of his powers, a bit worn from the telekinesis. He thought back to his childhood, where random objects tended to move on their own when he was angry about something. That was one mystery solved in his life. "Thanks… and that explains so many odd things in my life. But I still need to practice until I can master this telekinesis," he said. He sat up straighter, against the headboard of his bed getting more comfortable. "Anyway, speaking of psychic powers, tell me more about PSI, if you can."

" _Very well."_ Buzz Buzz said. _"You know about the three categories of PSI, but it is commonly accepted that there are four main tiers of strength behind nearly all PSI abilities: α, β, γ, or Ω. A special tier, Σ, is used for shield PSI, like my PSI Shield. As you are only discovering your PSI, you only have access to α-tiered PSI for now, but from this journey you will slowly but surely realize more powers and better tiers. And it goes without saying that the higher the tier, the stronger that PSI move will be. Do note that it will also require longer to channel enough psychic energy for that ability with the desired tier, however, and heed this: be aware of using a higher level of PSI than you are comfortable with. Should you try anyway, you risk overspending psychic energy and injuring yourself… or worse."_ Buzz Buzz paused there, letting the information and warning sink in. He continued: " _Unfortunately, that is all of the concrete knowledge of PSI we know. We have a basic idea for other branches of PSI, but none have been absolutely confirmed. There are different theories surrounding PSI, one example suggesting that there exists a fifth tier for restoration PSI. But nearly all theories simply point to the user as an anomaly. Different psychics work differently, so do not expect what applies to you apply to another psychic._

Ness was fascinated at Buzz Buzz's explanation. The mere idea of actual extraordinary powers being in real life _outside_ of video games and movies was mind-boggling already, but being able to further develop them was even more awesome. Before he could ask anything more, however, he heard his mother call from downstairs, "Ness! Tracy! It's breakfast time!"

"Coming, Mom!" he called back, pocketing the Sound Stone and exited the room, heading downstairs. Buzz Buzz, sensing the conversation was over for now, withdrew back into the Sound Stone. Once downstairs, Ness noticed his mother in the kitchen, preparing platefuls of eggs and sausage and setting them on the table. Tracy was already downstairs, picking at her own food and eating it slowly. Ness's mouth watered at the sight of breakfast and eagerly dug into the food as he sat down on the table.

Ness's mother smiled at the sight of her son devouring the breakfast and sat down with her own plate. "So, Ness, what did you do last night?"

Ness slowed down on his food and swallowed before replying. "Mom, uh… I think I'm gonna have to leave home for a while."

The mother paused for a bit, and Tracy looked at him with a curious expression. "Why is that?" Ness's mother asked.

Ness quickly filled in the details of the previous night's events, talking about what happened from Buzz Buzz's entrance and explanation of Giygas to the Starman's appearance to the Sound Stone's importance while pulling out said stone from his pocket and laying it on the table. He even demonstrated his telekinetic ability by slightly lifting up the end of a fork on the table before it became too much for him, dropping after only a few seconds.

To his surprise, however, his mother didn't seem to freak out, or even look surprised at the display of what was pretty much _magic_. In fact, she looked as if she expected Ness was going on an adventure, away from home on his own for a few months. Meanwhile, Tracy was ecstatic, jumping out of the chair and yelling, "I _told_ you there were aliens! See? I knew they were out there! Eat it, Ness!" She calmed down and sat back on her chair as Ness's mother started to speak up.

"Ness… don't worry, we will support you all the way on this. You'll do what you have to do, and I'm sure you're in good, capable hands! This Buzz Buzz character still lives on in this stone, yeah? Somehow, I feel you'll be fine on your adventure." she said. Ness breathed a sigh of relief at that - he was expecting far more resistance from his mother, but surprisingly she was fairly okay with the idea of her son being in possible mortal danger. He was puzzled at that, but it saves him effort in needing to convince her, so he wasn't going to complain. "But still, do remember that even though you are out there in the world, you are always welcome to come back here to visit or call back on the phone."

"Yeah!" Tracy piped up. "And don't worry, you can leave cool stuff you find or buy with me! Just send a package to home with Escargo Express and I'll stockpile them all for you."

Ness grinned. His family was 100% supportive of his journey outside of home and was even convinced he's going to be just fine. He pushed his finished plate of food away and got up from his seat. "Heh, well I should start preparing myself. I should get my backpack and get ready."

"What's your first destination you have in mind, dear?" Ness's mother asked as she scooped up the dirty dishes.

"Some place called Giant Step. Buzz Buzz said it was close to here." Ness replied.

"Ah. Well I don't know where that is, why don't you go to the library to search around?" Ness's mother said. "I'm sure it's important to get information on your destinations before you set off, right?"

"Yeah, mom."

"Oh! I almost forgot." Ness's mother spoke up. "Before you leave, why don't you call your father? Your father would also be interested in hearing you'll be going out on an adventure."

Oh right. Ness's father wasn't around often due to his job requiring him to be away from home very often. Ness was always told that he was working for the military, but what exactly he did was always a mystery to Ness and Tracy. Their parents never elaborated on what exactly he did, which always struck Ness as odd. Ness stopped in his tracks and made his way to the family phone, picking it up and dialing his father's work number, waiting as it reached the other side.

"Hello?" a tired-sounding voice said from the speaker.

"Hey dad! It's me, Ness." Ness replied.

"Oh, Ness!" The voice perked up instantly. "It isn't every day I get a call from you or your mother. 'Work to exhaustion when you're young…' ever heard of a wacky saying like that? Ha! Exactly how I'm feeling right now. Ah…" The voice started to sober up a bit. "Anyways, I heard about the meteorite from here already. Are you all okay?"

"Yeah, we're all fine. Speaking of though… I've got something important to tell you… I, uh-"

"That you're about to go on an adventure and leave home for a good few months?" Ness's father said.

Ness gaped at the response. _How are they knowing this?_ He thought to himself. First his mom seemed to not be too bothered at the revelation, now his dad automatically assumed he was going to go on an adventure. It seemed all too strange and upside-down, but those are thoughts for later. "Wait, you knew?"

"Call it father's intuition, son!" Ness's father said heartedly. "Ah, my little boy going off on an adventure of his own… I feel like a hero again! Wa ha ha!"

"Huh?" Ness said, confused yet interested in that last statement.

"Eh? Ah right, I guess the father of a hero. Anyways, it seems you've got yourself a lot on your plate. I'm sure you'll be completely fine on your journey, as is your mother! Just make sure you always have your ATM card with you. I'll be regularly depositing money in your account so you'll be able to support yourself and whatever friends you'll make. But don't get greedy and overspend it on Nintendo games, mister!" he added quickly, with a somewhat sterner tone.

"I won't, dad."

"Fantastic! Let's see… oh, my boss is going to arrive very soon! One last thing before I have to leave: remember to call back to me and your mother. We're always interested in what you're up to, and I'll even keep a record of your adventures as well."

"Mhm. I will, dad."

"Good good. I can't stay for long and you've got an adventure waiting for you, so I'm going to get back to work. Good luck, son!"

"Thanks, dad."

 _*click!* Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!_ Ness's father hung up the phone while Ness did the same. He went upstairs to his room, starting his preparations for his journey, grabbing his old bat and some necessities and stuffing them inside his backpack.

* * *

After a tearful goodbye to his mother and sister, Ness left his house, ready to start his adventure. His bat secured in his backpack and morale high, all was off to a strong start. Before he made his way to the library to gather information, however, he took a detour to Lier X. Agerate's house.

 _"Why are we going this way, back towards the meteorite?"_ Buzz Buzz asked, in his mind.

"Oh, I forgot to say." Ness said. "The old hermit living up here, Mr. Agerate, wanted to show me something in private. He didn't say what it was, but he said he only trusted me with it or something."

" _Fair enough._ " Buzz Buzz replied, satisfied with the response. Ness continued on the path. Just like last night, wildlife was acting far more aggressive than normal. Ness gripped his bat, ready to defend himself against the various snakes, wild dogs, and crows teeming across the area. Fortunately, he managed to take care of every single threat very easily with a single swing every time. As Ness made it to Lier's house, he knocked on the door.

"Mr. Agerate, it's me. Ness." Ness called.

The door clicked open, revealing Lier in his usual clothes. "Ah, good morning Ness! Come in, it's time for me to show you what I discovered last night." Ness came in, taking in the house for the first time. Even though Ness and Lier talked various times in the past, he never actually visited his house at all, this being his first time going. It was a fairly small house, with only a kitchen, a bedroom off to the side, and a huge hole in the center of the house with a ladder going down. Huh. Never see that often when visiting someone's house.

"Alrighty, follow me down here!" Lier said, gripping on the ladder holds and heading down. Ness shook his head to himself but followed suit anyway, both going deeper and deeper into the hole. As they both reached the bottom, Ness took this time to look around, noticing this was actually a cavern system. The hermit looked back at Ness. "Mm, I can tell by the look on your face that you have other places to go right after this, eh?" He asked. "Heh, I suppose that is putting it pretty damn lightly. Don't worry, this won't take too long, and you can go about your merry way after. But I guarantee, you'll be impressed with this find…"

Lier picked up a lantern on the floor and led Ness through the cavern. At the end of the cavern was… a big golden statue. It looked like a human with crossed forearms with horns on his head. Ness's eyes widened - that statue looked like pure gold that could sell for a fortune!

"This is my big find!" Lier exclaimed, sweeping his arm over the view of the statue and face giddy with excitement. "I've been chipping away down here for years, and my efforts are finally starting to show. And if this means anything, there should be far more treasure to discover. I'll eat twenty tons of garlic and work out all day, every day for a year straight if it means finding way more treasure here!" His face turned serious here. "Alright, that's all I wanted to show to you. You might start getting greedy and start upstaging my work… so you should go home now."

Ness didn't realize, but he was gravitating towards the statue slowly in awe, half-paying attention to Lier's voice. Before he realized, he was already up close to it, with an indescribable urge to… touch it. The statue was his, and his alone. Nothing else mattered but the statue. The statue. He started to reach out to the statue. The-

" _Ness!"_ Buzz Buzz's voice suddenly pierced through his mind. " _Be careful! I am sensing great evil from this statue… it does not seem to be psychic in nature, but with Giygas's influence… but what is this doing here, so consumed with evil?"_

Ness's mind and vision cleared up while Lier cleared his throat, causing Ness to slightly jump and turn back to Lier, who crossed his arms with a knowing look on his face. "Exactly like that. Some kind of voodoo magic is in this statue, so it's not safe for kiddies, including you. Believe me, some crazy damn thing lives in that statue, and if it falls in the wrong hands, crap is gonna hit the fan. So you should take my advice and get on with whatever you've gotta do."

"Oh… uh, alright." Ness said sheepishly. "Well, um… thanks for letting me see this, Mr. Agerate."

Ness turned and exited the cave, but before he turned he could have sworn he saw that statue… grinned at him? Ness involuntarily shivered as he exited the strange area, trying to forget this strange statue and move on.

* * *

As Ness exited Lier's house, it was finally time for him to start his adventure for real. No more than a few steps out, though, came a sight even _stranger_ than a meteorite or random aliens.

A shadow appeared in front of Ness's line of sight, and out came a tall, aged man in a black tuxedo and top hat and light-blond hair and beard, spinning until he landed. Ness was so caught off guard by the sight, he didn't even think of drawing his bat from his backpack. After the man landed, he caught Ness in his view and smiled widely.

"Pictures taken instantaneously!" The man exclaimed. "I'm a photographic genius, if I do say so myself! Oi, you there!" referring to Ness, who was still startled but looked at the strange man anyway. "Alright! Get ready for an instant memory of now. Look at the camera here…ready? Say… _fuzzy pickles_!"

Before Ness knew it, the distinct flash of a camera gone off, engulfing Ness's vision with a brief, bright light. Ness blinked twice before noticing the cameraman holding a very old fashioned camera in his hands, then pocketing it away in… wherever in his clothes.

"Wowwie, damn! What a great photograph! This'll always bring back the fondest of memories… yes sir! I shall be seeing you around later, young man!"

And as suddenly as he appeared, he disappeared from the scene, _rising up_ to the sky, spinning in place until he went out of sight.

"Um… Buzz Buzz." Ness asked, obviously confused and disturbed by what just happened. "What even just happened?"

" _I do not know. Something tells me, however… this will not be the last we see of that man._ " he replied. " _It seems far, far too strange to not be a part of our adventure."_

"Ergh." Ness said in slight disgust. "Well, I have some few choice words for that creep next time I see that guy. Anyways… uh… now we go to the library, I guess."

He made his way back towards the Onett library, ready to start looking for information regarding Giant Step. Stepping through the doors and noticing the librarian at the front desk currently reading a novel, he went over and asked, "Hello, is there any book here about Giant Step?"

The librarian looked up from her book. "Hm? Ah, Giant Step… very little is known about it, but you might find something in the geographic section at Section 200. Look within book 224, the book about Onett."

"Thanks." Ness replied, heading towards the relevant bookshelf while the librarian looked back at her novel. Searching through the books, he gazed through the book numbers, searching for the desired book. _210, 212, 214, 216… aha, 224_. Ness pulled out the book, titled _Onett: The Flower of Eagleland_ and went over to a chair, opening it up. Skimming through the table of contents, looking for the places of interest section, he found one mention of Giant Step: _an enigmatic spot of unknown origin located northwest of Onett, Giant Step has existed long before civilization expanded to the Onett and Twoson area. Town rumors say a beast of unimaginable strength lives among the area, but recent expeditions to explore the area have turned up negative findings of such claims._ " The paragraph about Giant Step adruptly ended there. Ness was disappointed at the lack of information beyond that, but now at least he had an idea of where Giant Step was. The book even came with a map of Onett, showing the locations of all the points of interest, including Giant Step, which was indeed located northwest of Onett. He got up from his chair and put the book back in its rightful place, and headed out of the library towards Giant Step.

The west road from the library led straight into the path towards Giant Step, and Ness followed it. Fortunately, there were no aggressive wildlife like there had been from the path to the meteor, which Ness was very grateful for. As the road ended, what stood before Ness was a large shack, flanked by fences of barbed wire with a DO NOT ENTER sign on it plastered on the west fence.

"Welp, since when would DO NOT ENTER signs stop me on this journey?" Ness said to himself as he approached the shack's door. He tried to turn the knob, but it was stuck in place.

Hm. Locked. Appropriate, but that threw a wrench in Ness's progression. Ness eyed the fences. The barbed wire seemed to gleam dangerously in the sunlight, so climbing over the fence was not an option. He shrugged internally.

"What'cha doing here, sonny?" A voice spoke up. Ness jumped and turned around, revealing a middle-aged looking man, dressed up in bright red entertainer's clothes, but looking fairly banged up as the clothes seemed to have multiple tears in them and faded colors.

"I was looking to ge-er, I mean, I was just looking at this place." Ness stammered, startled at the man's sudden entrance.

"Heh." The man chuckled and smiled. "You're most likely interested in what's beyond them walls, eh?"

"Uh…" Ness didn't immediately respond. "Yeah."

"Knew 'em. Well, even if you wanted to go in, the mayor locked up that only entrance to that cave. Some man by the name of Frank Fly and his crony Sharks trashed the building there and caused a ruckus, so something had to be done."

Frank Fly? That was the leader of the Sharks, Ness remembered. It was in the news that the Sharks were being run by a fairly charismatic teenager, causing various petty trouble like spraying graffiti and loitering, their most recent "conquest" was the active take-over of the local arcade south of Onett. Their problem in Onett mainly came from the multitude of dysfunctional teenagers aiming to be hip and "rad" wanting to fit in, causing a small blowup in membership, so police couldn't round up everyone within as more slipped past the cracks. "Oh… well, thank you anyway." Ness said. "But… I still need to check out what's past the place."

The man looked at him blankly, but didn't press the question. "Well, as it was the mayor himself who locked up the entrance _because_ of those Sharks crazies, you might be able to convince him to let you through if you please him in some way."

"Like?"

"Oh, I don't have a clue." The man shrugged. "Maybe something like amuse him, or gain his favor by doing something crazy like take care of the Sharks problem or give a cure for baldness or something. God knows with a balding head like the mayor's, he'd need a cure for that."

What the traveling man said gave Ness an idea and his eyes lit up, but the man didn't notice. Ness quickly gave his thanks and started left the area, towards Onett while the man just shrugged and walked away, off to do his own business.

* * *

" _So your plan is to take on the Sharks head-on to gain the mayor's approval?_ " Buzz Buzz inquired as Ness was walking towards downtown Onett.

"Eventually, yeah. But I'm not sure how I'm going to fight off all of them. And I'm not completely confident in my psychic stuff either…" Ness replied.

" _A wise observation, as even with psychic strength, overwhelming numbers can still put down a psychic eventually._ " Buzz Buzz said sagely. " _So, what is your plan as of now?_ "

"Well, I was also thinking of just going to Frank directly and taking care of him only. If video games and movies taught me anything, it's that beating up the leader will take care of everything else… right?"

" _Mhm. However, it would be difficult to take on this Frank character as you currently stand. You have a natural instinct for fighting, but even with PSI he will likely have the upper hand in pure strength._ "

"I don't think I have a choice, though… I need to make sure I'm prepared enough to fight off enough Sharks."

" _The only way to improve your combat prowess is to expand your comfort zone at a near-constant basis. There's nothing more to learn from taming wildlife. And in addition, think of this as an opportunity to train your PSI abilities. The more you use your PSI, the more abilities you may end up realizing on your own in your subconscious."_

"Alright… but first, I probably need to replace this bat. It's getting worn out and the crack is getting a bit larger. The local store should probably have some new ones."

At that, Ness made a quick detour to the drug store as he entered downtown Onett. As he went in, he immediately made a beeline towards the sports section and skimmed through the aisles in search of what he was looking for. Tennis rackets… football gloves… aha, baseball bats! Ness took a quick glance at all of the bats and their respective price tags. At the lowest end were the same bats Ness was currently carrying but not cracked, priced at $19.99, while the absolute highest end were made of solid aluminum, priced at a whopping $999.99! Ness's eyes slightly bulged at how expensive these bats could be and quickly searched for a bat within a more reasonable price range. $499.99, no… $299.99, no… even $99.99, no… Ness was about to just bite the bullet and purchase the one costing $99.99 when he caught glimpse of a really nice-looking bat for only $47.95… Ness ran his fingers through the hilt and edges, feeling the smoothness of the wooden bat, called the Home Run bat. It was no aluminum bat like any of the more expensive bats at $99.99 and above, but it was still very good quality and probably the best one he could really afford for now.

Ness grabbed the bat off the shelf, giving it a few practice swings, marveling at how smooth it felt. It just felt so right in his hands, as if it was made specifically for him and him alone. Ness rushed over to the ATM, sliding his card through the teller as it spat out his needed money, and brought it over to the paying counter, doing business right then and there. The clerk raised an eyebrow at the short teenager buying it on his own, but business is business, he figured, and sold the item anyway. With the Home Run bat directly replacing the old one, Ness traded in his old cracked bat (at a very low price) for the new bat and left the store, satisfied with his purchase as he stuffed the change in his pocket.

Now all it was time to do is find the Sharks and put an end to them, somehow. Since the arcade down in the southern part of Onett was still crawling with Sharks, that was most likely where Frank was. Sure enough, as Ness approached the southern area, he encountered two Sharks members loitering outside of the fence surrounding the arcade. They were dressed in a pure black, full-body suit with a shark fin prodding from the head, with goggles on. One Shark member had a pogo-stick in their hand, while the other one was balancing a skateboard on their feet. They both noticed Ness walking towards the arcade and raised their voices to Ness. "Hey, kiddo! If you wanna pass through our territory, you gotta pay the toll!" The skateboarder yelled in a rowdy, adolescent voice at him.

Ness turned to the punk briefly and called back, "Sorry, not interested," and continued to walk on towards the arcade. At that, the skateboarder got enraged and ran up to Ness, grabbing him by the shirt.

"Listen, pipsqueak, I'm feelin' generous today so I'll let you know one more time. Pay the toll or buzz the hell outta here!" The Shark member threatened. Ness looked back with a trace of fear in his eyes, but still stared back with a determined look in his face.

"No." Ness tried to sound nonchalant, but a twinge of fear still crept into his voice.

The skateboarder noticed Ness's slightly wavering voice and just laughed maniacally, shoving Ness into the pavement, who landed on the ground hard. Both Sharks member boarded their gear - the skateboarder on his skateboard and the other Shark member on his pogo-stick - and started to smile sadistically. "Well, well, well… I hate to be hurtin' kiddies, but we'll just have to tell your mommy and daddy… there's been a death in the family." At that, they laughed and rushed towards Ness, still on the ground, vulnerable.

Ness quickly got up and dashed out of the way as the two Sharks missed their target. He quickly drew out his new bat and gripped it in both hands. As the skateboarder dashed towards Ness at an extremely high speed, he readied his bat and preemptively side-stepped the Shark, swinging the bat at his torso. The bat connected, launching the Shark forward, off the skateboard and into the pavement himself. Fortunately for Ness, the Shark's outfit was mostly for show as the Shark gave out a slight cry of pain as he landed. He got up, with obvious tears in his uniform, showing some skin underneath. Growling, he yelled, "Alright kid, now you're makin' me angry. Get outta here or it won't just be you, it'll be your family we'll be dealing with." Meanwhile, the other Shark member was no idle layabout, as he started to gain speed towards Ness. Ness wasn't paying attention until it was too late as the pogo-user slammed into Ness, hitting his body with hard blunt force, causing multiple bruises to appear on Ness. He cried out in pain as he fell down, dropping his bat as it clattered to the ground next to him.

"Heh, not so tough now, aren'tcha?" The Shark member taunted. Ness gritted his teeth and whispered, "Lifeup," as he felt his psychic powers flow through his body as his bruises started to clear up and fix itself. Ness got up, feeling physically refreshed but slightly mentally drained and picked up his bat from the ground. Not a second later, the skateboarder rushed up close to the boy and swung his skateboard down towards Ness. Ness quickly intercepted the skateboard, but as he was taken off guard for an instant the blow clattered through Ness's body, shaking him off slightly. The other Shark member started to charge towards Ness, pogo in hands like the other Shark member, ready to tear the child a new one.

Suddenly, Ness got an idea, one used multiple times in popular culture. He disengaged from the skateboarder and ducked, running away as the pogo-user and skateboarder collided and hit each other with their blows, originally aiming for Ness but missing, hitting each other instead. As both collided with each other, they cried out in pain as the crumpled to the ground. Ness, stopping himself, took a second to catch his breath as he walked up to the pile of Sharks, dazed and confused from their self-inflicted carnage. Ness kneeled down and inspected his handiwork - both were babbling incoherent words as they seemed to be temporarily down for the count. A burning sensation suddenly filled Ness's mind, whispering some words Ness couldn't hear properly. Ness clung onto his head, trying to shake off the feeling, until he felt something even greater… a new sensation of power…

"PK Hypnosis!" Ness heard himself shout. In an instant, one of the two Shark members started to fall into a deep sleep, snoring _very_ loudly. Ness just realized: he somehow discovered a new PSI ability, in addition to Lifeup. Taking this opportunity, he casted Hypnosis on the other Shark member, making sure both were deep asleep. Surprisingly enough, unlike using Lifeup, using Hypnosis didn't take too much out of him. Guess Lifeup understandably took more out of him to use.

Before Ness would take a chance for them to wake up, he got up and dashed away towards the arcade's entrance, ready to get to his destination: Frank Fly.

* * *

Getting inside the arcade and dealing with the Sharks inside was the easy part. What was after was the hard part.

With his newfound Hypnosis power, he was able to neutralize most of the Sharks running around the area in an instant and just passed by them. The final Shark, however, didn't go down so easily, seemingly resisting the hypnotic ability and started to swing a hula hoop. Ness was confused at the choice of a hula hoop as a weapon, even if it _was_ made out of some sort of metal. As it was far more awkward to handle indoors compared to a bat, especially with arcade machines across the place, Ness was able to easily block the Shark's hits and catch the Shark in a blow to the side, sending him to the ground. Before he got up, Ness pinned him to the ground with his foot, preventing him from getting up.

"Tell me where Frank is," Ness interrogated roughly, a foot on the Shark's side.

The Shark grunted and laughed weakly. "Like hell I would, you damn _brat-_ "

Ness's foot lowered a bit more, causing the Shark to stop laughing and start grunting in pain. "Last chance. _Tell me where he is_." Ness's voice here started to grow more menacing, causing both Shark and even Ness himself recoil a bit at how aggressive that command was.

"Alright, alright!" The Shark panicked, instantly dropping his bravado. "H-H-He's… he's in the backyard outside! Now let me go, please! Please! I'll do anything! _Anything_!"

Ness, satisfied, let go helped the Shark up to his feet, but held up his bat in warning and pointed to the door of the arcade. "Get out of here, away from this gang, and don't come back. Else, I'll call the police on you."

The Shark, obviously terrified at the idea of a little kid younger than him beating him up _badly_ , nodded furiously and made a dash for the door, high-tailing it out of the arcade. Ness shrugged and made his way towards the back entrance of the arcade.

Outside, the sun started to set, indicating it was almost evening. Ness walked outside, into the backyard of the arcade, showing a fairly tall, imposing man, facing away from Ness, looking up to the sky in what appears to be a thoughtful gaze.

"…Hmph." The man, Ness figured to be Frank Fly, let out. "So, you're the one that's just been causing trouble here on _my_ turf."

The voice sent a slight shiver down Ness's spine. The voice was calm, collected, confident, yet even had a trace of anger in it. It was almost enough to make Ness deathly afraid of Frank… but he came this far already. He can't let the town down… or Buzz Buzz or his family. They all had so much confidence in him - to turn back now would be cowardly and unfulfilling. Ness gripped his bat harder as he replied in a slightly shaky yet confident voice, "Your time is over, Frank. I won't let you or your Shark gang hurt anyone else here."

"…Heh." Frank let out a slight chuckle. He slowly turned, revealing his full appearance to Ness.

Ness expected many images to associate Frank with, but he didn't expect… well, this. Unlike a typical mob boss from movies, Frank was fairly tall with a fairly handsome face and body, donning a well-dressed red suit and sunglasses. His blond hair was styled exactly like a shark fin, like the Shark members' outfits. Around his necklace appeared to be a shark-tooth necklace, further cementing the Shark theme he had going for. It unnerved Ness even further, wondering what else Frank has up his sleeve.

"Well… that sounds like a laugh. The name's Frank, by the way. Yours?"

Ness didn't respond, all feeling of bravado and courage slowly leaving him. It was a stark contrast with the confidence Frank was showing.

"Come on, no? You won't say your name?" Frank seemed disappointed, pacing around the area slightly. "Hmph… fine." A click. "Then I suppose I'll beat it out of your bloody corpse!"

In a flash, Frank lunged towards Ness, a knife materializing in his hands. Ness's eyes widened and quickly dashed away, attempting to keep distance from the gang boss. The knife barely missed Ness's body, but Frank didn't seem too disappointed with missing.

"Yes… keep running, little boy." He taunted. "You can always run, but for every second you spend evading my attacks and not striking back, that's an opportunity for me to put you down."

Ness wasn't going to take that lightly. Glaring at Frank, he pointed his finger at Frank: "PK Hypnosis!" The familiar feeling of psychic energy went through Ness as he directed the attack towards Frank… which barely did anything!

"Is that it? Is this the great vigilante's trump card to be had?" Frank yawned. "Oh, how boring. So boring, that's probably how it was so effective against my Sharks. Heh, I am clever. But me, little boy… that's fairly amusing how pathetic you are." He brandished his knife again and threw it at Ness. He widened his eyes and instantly ducked, narrowly avoiding the knife, only barely missing his baseball cap. When Ness looked up, Frank was up close to him, smiling wildly.

"Hello… and goodbye!" With that, Frank launched an uppercut to Ness's face, most likely cracking a jaw bone and sending him back by a few feet, dropping his bat. Ness landed on the ground, in deep pain as Frank just walked up to him and kneeled down next to him. "Well, that was honestly pathetic. A minute in and I'm already the winner, and you about to be six feet down under."

Ness couldn't hear Frank's taunt over the massive pain. Oh… the pain. It needed to be treated instantly. The familiar rush of psychic power returned to Ness as he croaked, "Lifeup,", starting to mend his broken jaw. It stopped mid-way, likely due to how much of an injury his jaw suffered from. "Lifeup," he whispered again, as he felt the jaw fully mend itself, though the healing maneuvers took more out of Ness's psychic reserves. He wasn't sure how much more he could use Lifeup before Frank would outlast him at this rate.

Frank raised an eyebrow at Ness's healing capabilities, but didn't say much. "Well then… you are full of surprises, kiddo. Unfortunately, I think I've discovered all there is about you." He got up and raised a foot above Ness's head. "Eat shit and _go to hell_ , runt!"

Fortunately, Ness was ready. He rolled out of harm's way and rose back to his feet as Frank's foot stomped to where Ness's head used to be. Unfortunately, now at that moment, Frank was blocking Ness's bat, who promptly kicked it away to the side and then made a grabbing motion towards Ness again. "Grr, I'll get you again, you stubborn kid!"

Ness kept his distance, waiting for Frank to charge again so he can make a dash for his bat again. In that moment, Ness's patience was rewarded as Frank charged forward again. Ness ducked around the charge again and made his way towards his bat, picking it up. Now the odds are evened. Ness started to charge towards Frank and swung his bat at the gang boss, but Frank deftly sidestepped and threw another punch at Ness. The boy parried the swing with his bat, hitting Frank's hand, and using that as an opening to swing his bat again at Frank, hitting him at the side, slightly staggering his stance. Ness swung again, but Frank dodged it and came back swinging, hitting Ness in the stomach. He grunted a bit at the impact, but followed up his previous swing with another side swing, catching Frank at the side again. This time, it knocked him to the ground hard, and Ness slowly panted and staggered backwards as he looked at Frank's downed position.

" _Stay alert, Ness._ " Buzz Buzz called in his mind. " _I doubt this is all Frank has in store for himself. Be prepared…_ " Ness just nodded silently in response, keeping his eye on Frank.

Frank was also breathing hard, glaring at Ness yet also with a hint of respect at the little kid's hidden strength. "Not… bad… for a kid. He grunted and pulled himself up to his feet, shaken but not completely down for the count yet. "But Fail-proof Frank is not so easily beaten…" He took out a controller out of his pocket and pressed a button. "Say hello… to… Frankystein Mark II!"

In an instant, knocking down a nearby tree came a medium-sized tank with a grinning face as its head with two large arms from the "body" of it. Ness groaned, fatigued from the previous battle against Frank, but readied himself for combat as Frank just laughed evilly and stepped to the side, watching the battle from afar.

The tank blew off some steam before making the first move. It charged towards Ness at a blistering quick speed, prompting Ness to run to the side to avoid the charge. Fortunately, as the tank missed Ness, it seemed to have one crippling weakness: it could not turn around very quickly, leaving it exposed after a surge. Ness grinned to himself as a plan formed in his head. Charging towards the tank himself, he readied his bat and leapt onto the tank, climbing it. Standing on top of it, he started to swing his bat at the "head" multiple times. The wooden bat surprisingly caused some denting in the metal; it appeared to have been made with very cheap metal not completely built to last taking physical damage for long. Unfortunately, the tank had other plans. Using its arms, it spun the body in place, catching Ness off guard and sent him flying off the tank, towards the ground. While turning around towards Ness's direction, it fired off another punch towards the boy, causing him to take even more damage.

" _Ness!_ " Buzz Buzz cried in his mind. " _Get up! That tank is has far more tricks up its sleeve… be on guard!_ "

Things were going from optimistic to fairly dicey. Ness managed to get in some damage on the tank's head, but it wasn't enough, and the tank was revving up to charge once more at Ness. He was also feeling like he's almost out of Lifeup uses, and Hypnosis sounded like an absolute waste of energy as tanks can't really "sleep". Ness quickly scrambled to his feet while the tank charged again. He dived to the side again as the tank charged way past him once more, giving Ness yet another chance to climb up the tank and hit it again with his bat. This time, however, the tank reacted much quicker to Ness climbing on top of itself, spinning its body again, hitting Ness again.

Ness gritted his teeth. The machine was catching onto Ness's strategy, and it was only so long before Ness would slip up dodging once and get mauled by the tank's charge. Something needed to happen quickly, something needed to rock the favor towards Ness… wait, rock? Something new swirled within Ness - a primordial power, powerful yet wild, similar to realizing his other PSI moves, but this time so different too, sprung forth in Ness's body. Suddenly, everything felt so right, and Ness pointed his arm towards the machine.

"PK Rockin'!"

Instantly, a swirling wave of red, blue, and yellow burst from Ness, engulfing the tank in a bright flash of light. Sounds of machine tearing, metal scraps flying, and smoke erupted from the tank, pure destruction raining from Ness's body. Ness grinned as when the light and dust cleared, there was nothing left of the tank except a large charred patch of ground. Ness smiled weakly as he staggered, running towards the wall for support. All of his psychic power was exhausted, and his mind felt fatigued beyond anything he had experienced before.

"Heh…" Ness breathed out. "I… did it… oof…"

"Damn right… you sure did… you damn brat…!"

" _Ness_!" Buzz Buzz warned.

Ness quickly turned up, still panting, then widened his eyes as Frank staggered towards Ness, his knife in hand with a _very_ angry look on his face.

"No one… ugh… ever… makes a farce out of Fail-proof Frank… I don't know how you… agh… pulled that off… but in the end, it doesn't matter now, huh?" He waved his knife in front of Ness's sight. "In the end… I've got the knife… you're exhausted… and I've _won_!"

As Frank raised his knife, however, he suddenly cried out and dropped his knife, clattering to the ground. He clutched his head with both hands and spiraled around the area, suffering from some pain in his head? Ness wasn't sure at this point, gripping his bat, ready for anything by this point. Perhaps this was one of Frank's way to fake-out Ness, perhaps something else is happening-

And all of a sudden, Frank dropped to one knee, huffing and puffing as he shook his head. He looked up towards Ness, who wore a confused look on his face. "What… what even fuckin' happened out here?"

Ness stared at him blankly. "Don't you remember? You've been leading the Sharks here for the past few weeks, causing trouble all across town."

Frank shook his head. "No… me? The Sharks pulling this? No, I refuse to believe that. We may be rougher than the rest of the crowd, but we were still a family… maybe a slightly crazy, dysfunctional family, but it was all we have, each other." He looked at Ness with a serious look. "Believe me. I want the best for me and the kids. These kids… they're vindicated by society, looked down upon as useless due to problems at home or school… so I've provided a safe haven for them.

"Sounds awfully convenient." Ness remarked, still battle-ready and tense despite his lack of psychic energy. Frank shrugged.

"It does. Not gonna lie. Which is why…" Frank picked up his knife and threw it away, out towards the fence, looking out towards the downtown. "Two things. First off, I'm gonna have to rethink me and the Sharks and where we're going. We need to find a way to reintegrate ourselves into society somehow. Start off small… community service, yeah? Maybe even find some careers for us. Maybe I can vouch for these kids, show our mayor and society we're not worthless pieces of crap. Oh, and second off, I think I have an explanation for you as well." Frank turned towards Ness and crossed his arms. "The pieces are coming together for me now. Only two weeks ago, I felt something in my mind. It was whispering little things to me, like "build this machine to stop the Chosen One from exiting Onett"… well, the Frankystein Mark II, and "Giygas will not be stopped once again", and something regarding Giant Step… and some other mumbo jumbo like that. I didn't understand it, but I followed it anyway because it seemed so convincing, y'know?"

" _Giygas!_ " Buzz Buzz angrily outbursted. That got Ness's attention and made him lower his bat. "Wait, Giygas? Are you saying Giygas was taking control over you?" he asked.

Frank looked at him. "I believe so… Judging from what I had done and why you're here, I assume two got some bad blood?"

"Well, uh, I guess you could say that…" Ness said slowly. "Well, I never met him personally, but he's been the cause of all sorts of weird things going on. Wildlife up north here is going bonkers, attacking random people, for example."

"Hm…" Frank looked deep in thought. "Well, if you can turn me, Fail-proof Frank, into Failure Frank, then I can imagine you're on a solid path. You're a lot stronger than me, I can say that, and I don't remember the full details between our battle. Giygas was really rooted in my mind during our fight." He extended his hand towards Ness. "Here. Take this as an apology for me putting you through some deep shit, and this will also extend to my Sharks as well. You have my word."

Ness cautiously reached his hand towards Frank's and grasped it, resulting in a handshake with no guile or treachery. Ness looked over Frank again - he seemed to actually genuine, he was just another victim of Giygas's evil influence. That clinched it for Ness even further on his convictions to stop Giygas… so other towns would not have to suffer from oppressive gangs like the Sharks.

"One last thing." Frank spoke up, catching Ness's attention. "That Giygas dude seemed to really not want people in Giant Step. The mayor locked it up after my… episode there. I'll be putting word out there that you've helped set me on the right and narrow, so I'm sure you'll gain the mayor and the town's favor. Talk to him - you might get your ticket in through that."

Ness smiled widely. Discounting their fight, Frank actually turned out to be a very nice person. "Thanks, Frank. I'll owe you one."

"No." He retorted. "I owe _you_ one." He turned towards the dwindling sun, now setting close to evening. "Somehow, I know it." He looked back towards Ness. "By the way, I never got your name."

Ness holstered his bat, putting it back in his backpack. "It's Ness."

* * *

Well quite Frankly speaking, that's an exciting way to jump the Sharks. What a beefer of a chapter, like god _damn_! Literally _doubled_ the length of this fic. I'm really proud of this chapter, and it's only going to get better from here!

What lies ahead in the cave of Giant Step? (The Titanic Ant, let's not kid ourselves.) Let's find out together. (Beyond the Titanic Ant.) We'll see you for Chapter Three, where we make our first Giant Step towards melody hunting!

(Ok I suck at puns, pls don't kill me kthx)


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